Team-BHP - Thar she blows !!

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Originally Posted by headers (Post 1885496)

OK any launch dates ?

You say you are not interested in buying this car and you want to know volumes it will sell and the launch date !! :D

Just pulling your leg...hopefully it will be launched within a few months. There are two issues still to be addressed and it has much to do with what people want. I am sure BD and team will be burning the midnight oil to make it happen. I reckon it will be released soon

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Originally Posted by SS-Traveller (Post 1884726)

Someone like me would be happier having a smaller vehicle than the Scorpio 4wd with the same competence, since there's no parking space in front of my house. Sell it to me for 10% less than a Scorpio VLX 4wd, with ALL the bells and whistles of the Scorpio included, and I could be a buyer.

@adc: You'll agree, I'm sure.

Absolutely and very well put except on the price front i.e. a Thar of Rs 9 L.

If I go back 2.5 years behind, thinking of my decision of buying, we wanted a 4wd tourer and saw that the minimum tourer 4wd started from something 9.5 L onwards. Thats way above my limit and so I settled for the next 2 attributes - torque [2.2 Dicor has enough of it] and GC [210 mm]. Based on these two we have been pushing the Safari in distant places. Plus of course the comfort.

So either I would have bought a 4wd Safari at 9.5 L and forget about touring as then I not enough money left but would have felt happy with a 4wd badge standing still in the garage - or buy something at 8 L OTR and still have some money left for touring.

What is going sour is the price. I at least thought, from wish lists to threads and what not, we were getting a good enough 4wd at cheaper price tag. AC, PS. and FRP 4wd at 6.5-7 L max onroad. That price point will also help me and may others also - selling out the current car/suv and taking a small bridge loan to fund the Thar.

If a full feature Thar costs 9-10L, what happens if a Safari 4wd is brought out at LX model level and that price will be almost like that.

What comes out then is - it is a lifestyle vehicle - for all those who can afford to maintain the lifestyle after spending 9-10L on the vehicle itself. There is nothing wrong it that.

As said, only I am very much closer to reality in that - this is a not an affordable offroader or tourer. Other than that, I have no worries about the specs - Torque and GC can do quite a bit of things and we as a family having surviving on that with our 2wd.

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Originally Posted by ex670c (Post 1885560)

It quite difficult to Change the Diff-Ratio on a CRDI engine, as it will need a suitable "data set".

Let me put a smile on your face and share that they have already done that !! You know they do care about what hardcore enthusiasts like you want !! But it may not be on the standard car. They would need to clear it with ARAI as a variant before they offer it to the general public.

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I have seen the consequences of a vehicle with same IFS being turned and driven into a kerb 10-12" High at a little over crawling speed.

Arka some maintenance on a 4x4 after a season of offroading is not all that bad is it? Alignment costs Rs 250 !!

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I'm looking at the vehicle from a very fresh perspective, Now I can order the body parts over the shelf :D.

Kitne parts khareedo ge? Just buy a Thar. In your hands, stock, without any mods the car will go up mount Kilimanjaro lol:

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To buy a new Thar and convert it to Solid Axle and FFRA, I'm not that crazy, maybe after 2-3yr old Thar should be a good donor for this mod.:)

I am not saying this casually but your passion for offroading is precious. Very precious. I would love to see someone like you using a Thar as a daily driver and showcasing its talents in offroad events all over the world. Someday would love to do the Amazon trails they do in the Camel Trophy !

I won't hesitate in saying this but of all the people I have met in the offroading world, I am personally keen you buy a Thar, use it for a while as your daily driver and eventually when you become comfy with it tear out the IFS and do all the mods.

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Originally Posted by star_aqua (Post 1885365)

....Cops will now start stopping our 540s too and we may have to end up in convincing him "Saar we are not rich kids saar, this is woriginal JEEP"

Reminds of the classic liner from Sharat...

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Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 843683)

.....as police coordinated the de-congestion of the traffic. Here I was in for a rude shock. A police SI directing the traffic flow, wanted some of us to move backwards. He asked the Alto driver (a family car) behind me politely (hinde hogi sir) to reverse, then he tells me “Ye Jeepu, hinde hogayya” quite rudely.....

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Originally Posted by ex670c (Post 1885582)

Hi Guys,

I guess these pics sum up Image/Presence/Attitude/Character, we were looking in an Indian JEEP. This was the pinnacle of JEEP building by M&M.

First 3 Pics were MM550XD (raghav's) and the following are NGCS MM550XD.

Does the Thar inspire the same stance, confidence, pride, arrogance if you may.

Regards,

Arka

Pics - Courtesy Maj. Sandeep Singh (susan3004) and from the Internet.

Noe of the photos here show a family friendly jeep. It shows a off road vehicle with no power steering, no creature comforts like AC and a soft top which cannot protect you from the elements. So these jeeps have nothing in common with thar except for the fact that they are jeeps.

Coming to the point of a family offroader, I think Thar is overdone.

The cheapest family friendly 4x4 in India backed by a service network and available for sale in tier one cities is the Safari/Scorpio 4x4. A safari/scorpio 4x4 has all that you need for touring.

So what should the thar be able to do. Well there are two things.
1. If you are looking for a vehicle in which you can take your family for an OTR outing(like what happens on cauvery banks), then Thar it is
2. If you are looking for a 4x4 for trail driving and off road driving on rajasthan sand tracks and himalayas, then Thar is an overkill.

If some other manufacture comes up with a vehicle as capable as the soft roader all wheel drive cheaper than thar, people will go for thar. How many people want to buy a family vehicle for OTRs?
In this forum there are maybe 5. All others want a dedicated offroad vehicle comfort be damned.
So that makes me wonder, how much will it sell? 500 units a month?
At that unit price, unless it uses common components from other vehicles, price will shoot up.

As a lifestyle vehicle(bling bling) why would anyone buy a thar 2WD at 6L. Unless M&M can make a classic style bling jeep, people will buy a 2WD bolero and kit it with big tires. Such boleros are a rage in many parts of the country.

Well all these questions will be hopefully answered when thar is actually launched.
But do remember, people who want family friendly off roaders want a vehicle with some 4wd capability to do trail driving. for offroading as a "sport" its still custom built vehicle route all over the world.

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Originally Posted by DKG (Post 1885562)

You say you are not interested in buying this car and you want to know volumes it will sell and the launch date !! :D

The latest thing to do if one wants to get noticed is to "do it IPL style". Guess Now you know why i'm interested in launch dates :)

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Originally Posted by DKG (Post 1885590)

I won't hesitate in saying this but of all the people I have met in the offroading world, I am personally keen you buy a Thar, use it for a while as your daily driver and eventually when you become comfy with it tear out the IFS and do all the mods.

Why tear out IFS if it is so good and do any mods - remember this is a factory fitted 4wd ready for OTR. Thats what the public is made to believe.

DB, SPike and MM team - no offense - Get your pricing right and you have a winner else :deadhorse

Also, DB sir, why is the tyre size 245/75 R16 and not 235 or 255? somehow the number seems a non standard to me.

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Originally Posted by adc (Post 1885578)

Absolutely and very well put except on the price front i.e. a Thar of Rs 9 L.

The 9L price point is where I'd like a Thar 4wd VLX - including AC, hardtop, airbags, factory-fitted ICE with steering mounted audio controls, central locking, even cruise control, parking sensors, rain sensing wipers, light sensing headlamps... the works. Throw in a couple of Hellas and a bull bar :p .

Similarly, the base model Thar 4wd SLE H-T (hardtop) ought to be @ 7.75L - with the same features as a Scorpio SLE, but 4wd.

Pitch in the base Thar 4wd LS S-T at 10% less than the Scorpio M2Di's price - @ 6.5L. And a non-AC version for @ 25k less.

@adc: I know you'd look at the Thar SLE H-T rather than the VLX!

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I am very much closer to reality in that...

Forward-facing rear seats! That's the reality.

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Originally Posted by tsk1979 (Post 1885760)

family friendly jeep.

Is that an oxymoron ?

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The cheapest family friendly 4x4 in India backed by a service network and available for sale in tier one cities is the Safari/Scorpio 4x4.

They don't sell Gypsy's anymore ?
If "Jeep" is family friendly why not a Gypsy.

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Originally Posted by headers (Post 1885883)

The latest thing to do if one wants to get noticed is to "do it IPL style". Guess Now you know why i'm interested in launch dates :)

I Hate the Thar now. :D
Used to love the thing.

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Originally Posted by yzfrj (Post 1886089)

Is that an oxymoron ?

Why do you say so. Jeep wrangler is a jeep and has all features to be family friendly (AC/Power steering etc.,)

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They don't sell Gypsy's anymore ?
If "Jeep" is family friendly why not a Gypsy.

There is no jeep in the market which is family friendly. Gypsy has terrible ride, no Power steering or AC in stock form and no front facing seats at the rear. How can you call it family friendly
Thar is supposed to be a jeep which is family friendly.
Comfortable ride and seats, with AC and power steering and a hard top

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I Hate the Thar now. :D
Used to love the thing.

Well thats your choice!